Reviews

They did not tiptoe around the theme of bdsm

It deviates from the usual kdrama tropes and I love it for that.

I love that it explored the issues of sexual assault, gender inequality and discrimination whilst also making it not seem too forced and commercial.

I also love that it explored the bdsm world in a more open and honest manner. Most kdramas tend to shy away from sex and taboo topics so I found it really refreshing to see one that didn’t treat it as a weird perversion but rather just something normal that shouldn’t affect or involve anyone else and that a woman being into things sexually is nothing for men to fetishise or pry into as it has nothing to do with those who are not involved.

I think that the acting was done very well and the visual effect were exemplary. The music wasn’t really memorable as I got too invested in the story but I don’t think that it was bad.

Overall, I think this is worth the watch although it may not be everyone’s cup of tea and I don’t think it requires the adult rating that it has if you are thinking of western standards.

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MARIO AND BAIFERN’S LONG AWAITED REUNION MOVIE

This was a fun and quirky movie with an interesting concept. It’s very futuristic in which everything can be controlled and done by AI. The AI aspect of the movie was nothing too crazy.

Dob was so adorable while being Bob and how he was figuring out how to be a human. His antics were cute and funny and his innocence was endearing.

I like how they made the robots/buildings seem like people and how Dob’s computer friends helped him with Lana and “The Hawk”.

This movie wasn’t anything crazy special or amazing and I was kind of saying “wtf am I watching” at times LOL. I also felt that the romance was lacking as most of the movie was Dob trying to figure everything out then it jumped to him getting hunted down by “The Hawk”. But if you want to see Baifern and Mario act together again I think you would enjoy this. Also, the cinematography was really good. This movie had a lot of potential especially because it’s Baifern and Mario’s reunion movie as well as it having an interesting concept, but it was just okay. Overall a solid 5 for me (only really scored that "high" because of Baifern and Mario).

P.S. The little scene of Lana’s drawer of “fun toys” LMAO.

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A Quentin Tarantino worthy amount of Feet but not much else

This movie sadly turned out to be what I feared: A lame excuse to show some vaguely kinky scenes without truly showing the audience why the kinky stuff is even necessary for the story.

BDSM in "mainstream" media is often a thorny issue, movies like 50 shades of grey poisoning the well so thoroughly that every new attempt gets looked at with apprehension. Although Love and Leashes is not as terrible as 50SOG it is also not remarkably better or more tolerable as a movie which includes BDSM in a post 50SOG world has to be.

Our main characters start in very different positions with regards to BDSM, but due to a mishap (who the hell orders their sex toys TO THEIR WORK OFFICE anyway) their worlds collide and Jihoo and Jiwoo start a D/s relationship very quickly. Considering the fact that Jiwoo had pretty much *no* idea what BDSM even really was or entailed and Jihoo at least seems somewhat experienced, I thought this was very stupid, since Jiwoo didn't even seem all too into being a Dom, but whatever the plot has to happen.

The problem is with BDSM stories though, most people are not kinksters and so some care needs to be taken to show why the characters want to be in this situation for the audience to empathise and follow along with the story. I have to say the acting sadly let the movie down in this regard, although I don't think the writing helped, but pretty much all I felt through most of the BDSM scenes was second-hand embarassment and varying amounts of cringe. All of the scenes involving Jiwoo's feet or the puppy play made me recoil and as an audience I was never sure what the intended effect was supposed to be. Most often this was because I never felt any connection to the character of Jihoo, who I just found incredibly off-putting in his disregard for social cues or even social norms (mostly regarding the workplace), granted Jiwoo was only marginally better in that regard - please don't do kinky stuff at your workplace people, i mean what the hell.

After around the halfway mark I found myself disengaging from the story entirely because I was beginning to feel bored and just finishing it out of a sense of "well I'm almost done". The ending was ok if bland, but of course we couldn't even escape the usual narrative tropes in a 2 hr movie so the conflict and resolution also had a been there done that feeling.

I watched this on Saturday and I've already forgotten most of it, which should honestly tell you everything.

If you want to include BDSM into a movie, show me why it's necessary for the characters. BDSM doesn't necessarily have to be hyper sexual, but people don't usually do it without getting something out of it. This is a very *internal* process, so a movie has to be very attentive to giving the viewer insight into this otherwise it just devolves into awkward "shock value" material to gawk at.

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AI RUK KHUN

What if the robot you love possessed the man you hate?

I'm expecting a lot because of the Trailer, Mario and Baifern Reunion but Sorry I end up saying What is this crazy stuff?! Dude the writing of this movie can be fixed by an Kindergarten Student but the writer choose to be stupid.

It does have so much potential the Concept is unique especially on first half but Second half literally ruined it. I skipped many scenes...

Dob doesn't seem to be a Robot he's more likely to be an Elementary Student who fell in love with her crush. And Romance is not well written also FL loves him out of nowhere.

The Acting, Cinematography is great and Editing stuff but the whole movie is totally a mess.

I will recommend it only If you like wasting your time for 1 hour and 30 minutes movie. Yeah that's it!

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Cute Cocker Spaniel Computer Falls in Love with a Human...

Having smart buildings is all fun and games until one falls in love and decides to posses a Jerk male leads body...
After that it gets fluffy, sweet, slightly confusing, slightly complected but ok not slightly very complected but pretty ok, mixing all kinds of scenes,,,,

Honestly with men being portrayed they are here I would pick a robot any time, especially if he got those abs... and well acted like a sweet, sweet Cocker Spaniel like the guy in this movie did.

The acting in this movie is ok but not great, the characters are fun and do not have annoying tendencies, the cinematography is ok, and the buildings/robots are just soo cute!

They also manage to fulfill one of my long time dreams, but what that dream is could be a spoiler so it´s a secret but, I am pretty sure you will guess what that dream is one you see it,

To sum it up, this movie is not great but pretty ok, so watch it don´t watch it... it doesn't really matter.

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Not much of a plot and no compelling romance

The older brother was kinda just a typical sad and pathetic guy who could never really communicate his feelings. The younger brother was a cocky playboy who never connected emotionally with women. Of the two, the older brother was a more likeable character, but the movie decided to explore the younger brother more and he's exactly what you expect: flirty and horny.

At the beginning I thought that the older brother was the main character. Then 35 minutes in, they go back and tell the story from the younger brother's point of view and then they meet back when the brothers finish a conversation from the older brother's story. They continue telling the story from the younger brother's point of view with a few scenes of the older brother mixed in. It seemed like the writer had a story in mind that involved both brothers but for some reason didn't want the older brother to be the main character. So instead of telling the story chronologically, they started with all the buildup of the older brother's story and got it out of the way and then cut to the younger brother and told his story start to finish with a few climax and resolution scenes mixed in for the older brother.

I initially thought that if the story had been told chronologically then it would have been better, but either way the focus would be on the younger brother who isn't a very interesting character. I think that the older brother's story is around a 6 and the younger brother's is about a 4 and when you combine them together the way this movie did, you get a low 5. The ending was okay; it wasn't great, but it wasn't that bad.

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I'd say, this movie had a really cool concept, it was dark but I feel they revealed the villain too early and didn't set up how despicable he was enough. I love all of the actors and I enjoyed what characters they brought to life from the script but I felt that things weren't fully explained, the stunts were very cool though. The one thing that upset me the most was at the end when they bring back the rapists from the prison and make a joke of the villain being raped. I found that to be such a cheap knock off joke and prison rape is a serious thing which was shown earlier. Idk, that was the part that made the movie end on a sour note for me.

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1993 versions of this story were better, in my opinion...

I agree with everything said by the first person to write a review here: The Butterfly...

There was also too much 'choose your side' moments in this movie; to would have been better to stick to the original story rather than add to it, as this one tried.

The 1993 versions placed more emphasis on the love story rather than the political story, which I believe were better.

The two main cast were great, in their acting and in their showing attraction/affection to each other, but the director tried to "rush" the love portion of this movie.

Some of the other support actors, although they were sufficient and all, had their parts re-written in this version of the telling of the great story from which they it came. Although, they did their parts well, and added mostly to the overall theme and support to the movie and the main cast, the script itself that they followed left many holes that no one even tried to fill nearer the end: first they were wanted; then they were forgiven.

The other main problem is that the director, Jacob Cheung, couldn't decide whether he wanted to make a martial arts/'carve-them-up" movie, a love story movie or a political movie; and since he tried to do all three, the movie failed miserably!

This could have been a great war movie, if properly developed; a great love movie, if properly developed; or a great political movie, if properly developed. However, none of these options were fully developed and that is why most reviews on the Internet give it a low rating, as I am.

It seems that all Chinese movie are pushing the "either you are For Us (China) Or Against Us" mentality over the last decade: I wonder if President Xi or the infamous party he belongs to had anything to do with this turn toward the "FUOAU" mentality?

I don't think that I really have to answer that question: President Xi became most prominent political leader in China, since 2012, two years before this movie was made.

I loved the cinematography and music, probably because I thought it fit well with the scenes where it was added: I did like the ending music as well.

I loved the costumes and such, giving it an appearance of a time when most in China were all poor, except the Palace people.
It is important to remember WHY the people were so poor then: greedy Ming Dynasty politicians...

I disliked how the events were rushed through; more time should have been spent to fully develop the scenes and the cast members and their outlook, giving us a better understanding of WHY they did what they did...

For example, first Wudong disowned Liang, then they offered the fight with him; no discussion of his actions in between the two actions or why they changed their minds.

What is funny: most reviews say that the red pills (delivered by Liang) killed the emperor and Liang becomes a wanted man; in reality, the head eunuch and not the emperor took the red pills, so why does everyone keep saying that the red pills killed the emperor?

I want to give a special mention to the character of Ke Ping Ting (Tong Yao): she seemed to be the only cast member that wasn't out for money or power; she simply wanted to be loved and begged Liang not to kill her father, chief eunuch Wei Zhongxian ((Ni Dahong) after the incident in the palace ; she is the ONLY ONE that actually thought about someone else besides herself, besides the male/female main cast, in this movie!

Today's directors should take lessons from the late director Akira Kurosawa, and his Seven Samurai movie: develop the movie and don's leave any loose ends in the telling of it!

Even though The Butterfly was right in her assertion, I still think that this is worth a re-watch occasionally.

RE-WATCH VALUE: moderate, but there are so many better love movies to watch out there!

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The worst movie ever

Trigger warning: Just about everything...
You know what it would be like to watch a "Freddy the Frog" rewrite by Khaled Hosseini? The movie "Sin" is basically that. It's about a hotel receptionist who meets an alcoholic and they start having a relationship. Along the way, there's tons of drinking (which would be an excellent explanation for the screenwriting), homophobia, arguing, affairs, yelling at God, hospital visits, more homophobia, more arguments, domestic disputes, attempted suicide, more hospital visits, and even incest. You can kind of see the pattern.
The only reason the story gets a 6/10 score is because it's at least interesting. The rewatch value is 5.5/10 because the movie is so bad, it's funny. Maybe it would be a fun movie to prank people with by showing it at a party.

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In a small city on the Mongolian border in China stands a statue of an Englishman. Unlike so many white savior stories, The Children of Huang Chi is based on the real life of George A. Hogg, an Oxford graduate in economics who ended up leading 60 war orphans safely to Shanshan 700 miles/1000km from where they started in Huang Chi. Writer James MacManus visited the town and interviewed survivors making the basis for this film.

George Hogg was played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers with more or less success. For me, he is an acquired taste. Hogg was a reporter stuck in Shanghai away from the action. He managed to make it into Nanjing masquerading as a Red Cross driver. He got there in time for the massacre and ended up nearly being killed for taking pictures of the atrocities. He was rescued by a communist guerrilla, Chen Han Sheng, played by the charismatic Chow Yun Fat. West Point educated in engineering, Chen was very good at blowing things up. When Hogg is injured, an American nurse, Lee Pearson, played by Radha Mitchell, suggested Chen send him to Huang Chi to recover, learn some Chinese and take charge of 60 orphans hiding out there.

What Hogg found when he arrived in Huang Chi were 60 boys, malnourished, suffering from various diseases, and barely sheltered. Devastated from the loss of their families, they did not welcome Hogg with open arms. He was just another foreigner. Hogg wasn't thrilled to be there either. With some encouragement from Lee and few other prospects available, Hogg began slowly improving conditions at the estate and winning the boys' trust. As the boys healed, they were faced with one of two eventualities-the Japanese who were nearing the estate would practice their scorched earth policy on them of Kill All, Burn All and Loot All which the boys had already survived once. Or, one of the Chinese armies would conscript the young boys to fight. At this point Hogg knew he needed to take the boys as far north as he could. With the help of Lee and Chen they began the boys' long journey through dangerous territory to the Gobi Desert.

As a co-production of China, all the characters were on equal footing. This wasn't a story about a heroic white guy who saved China. It was the human story of a man who saw the needs of 60 boys and stepped up and did what was necessary, what was right, as did the other characters trying to help them and survive the invading Japanese armies. More meaningful than even the movie, were the interviews during the credits with the real-life boys, now old men, Hogg helped.

The scenery and cinematography were beautiful. The stunning shots of the mountains, lakes, and desert were suitable for framing. Though understated the score fit the scenes perfectly.

Even though the film touches on the atrocities committed on the Chinese civilians, this is not an action movie or thriller. It's a story of courage and love, of building relationships and family. It's a story of love for the children who had suffered and seen more than anyone should have to. It's a story of how people stepped up and put their lives on the line for those children. At its heart, The Children of Huang Chi, like the statue erected in his honor, was a love story to George Hogg and the devotion he had for children not his own.

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been 2 yrs since i saw the drama's, so reading countless comments saying, this basically those drama's edited together, with everyone but the main couple edited out. plus a few new scenes added in - wasn't a problem. cause i kinda enjoyed the drama, so this is one way of rewatching something, without "putting in" all the hrs, rewatching the actually drama's would take.

that being said, this didn't make me feel like i "got my bang for the buck..." it's was meeh, as remembered everything and it (ironically) was rewatching something i'd seen, so nothing new or riveting let alone butterfly inducing this time around, which can be seen as a plus or a minus depending on the viewer - it left me passive. (yeah the hinted proposal was cute, but was waiting/more curious to see the parents reacting and that came to not ).

will say enjoyed seeing Tine, and think after watching countless drama's, rewatching the edited footage emphasized how good of an actor he is - cause watching this - it was evident that i loved his character not only cause the actor is good-looking, sweet and charming. but cause he Can act. and cause of that, his character was not only more relatable, but likeable.

this was fine for a one off - wish the majority wasn't the past and there was more of a plot to this movie, then the little we got at the end. that didn't amount to anything other then a vague "happily ever after".

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